Victoria’s Secret model Victoria Lee’s Pretty Woman moment
The movie came out before she was born, but Victoria’s Secret model Victoria Lee has jumped at the chance to have her own Pretty Woman moment.
Entertainment
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Model Victoria Lee has watched Julia Roberts in classic flick Pretty Woman so many times she has lost count.
So getting the opportunity to wear the same diamond jewellery the Hollywood star wore in the 1990 movie was one she didn’t have to think twice about.
“It came out the year I was born,” former Victoria’s Secret model Lee told The Daily Telegraph.
“I have so many memories watching it at home growing up, it is one of those films you always go back to watch, and Julia Roberts is just so beautiful and the love story between her and Richard Gere is amazing.
“Julia Roberts’ character, Vivian, represents a woman that envisioned something for her life and went after it. She found love along the way but always had ambitions and goals.”
Lee donned more than $365,000 worth of jewels from luxe brand Fred to launch its Pretty Woman collection. Fred created the same necklace worn by Lee for Roberts in Pretty Woman.
As to her own ambitions, Lee is one of Australia’s top international modelling exports.
She moved home from New York at the end of last year because of the global pandemic, and while still very much working in the industry, she is keen to one day follow in Roberts’ footsteps.
“It is definitely a goal and something I’d like to explore,” Lee said, adding of Roberts: “She is a woman that has aged so gracefully and has developed into herself as she has progressed through the industry with different roles. That has been incredible to watch, how she has evolved in her characters and projects.”
BYRON BAES TARGETS LOCALS
Byron Bay locals, as opposed to blow-in influencers, will be on show in polarising new reality show, Byron Baes.
Contrary to reports suggesting influencers with large social media followings will parachute in to the northern NSW coastal township to shoot the controversial reality show, Confidential understands producers have set their sights on locals who were born and bred in the area.
It is understood Kathy and Ralph Brauer, who own Bisque Traders in Bangalow, are among the cast, although producers are keeping their cards close to their chest ahead of cameras rolling next month.
An online petition objecting to the show has received several thousand signatures, and this week protesters gathered with placards in Byron. Some reports have suggested locals will boycott businesses that take part in the series.
Netflix, which is producing Byron Baes, declined to comment when contacted.
Byron Bay has become a hub of production since Nicole Kidman’s Nine Perfect Strangers set up base there.
Numerous movies and television productions have since been shot in the area.
“It is all a bit sexist to be honest,” one production source said.
“People are assuming the show is going to be filled with vapid women, bikini influencers and the like, and that is simply not the case. It is actually local people who have their own businesses, showcasing the community, which is diverse and colourful.”
Casting is very much a secret, with some names bandied around including Elias Chigros from Love Island and bikini model Natalie Roser, whose management has said she will not be participating. Others rumoured to have joined the case include The Block’s Elyse Knowles and influencer Ruby Tuesday.
DOZERS MOVE IN
One of the last weatherboard beach houses is about to fall to the Byron Bay bulldozers.
The development of Australia’s most easterly private residence overlooking Wategos Beach is the brainchild of business mogul Scott Didier, whose Johns Lyng Group in 2018 bought the ritzy Byron Bay suites, which were redeveloped by Paul Hogan’s sidekick and Crocodile Dundee producer John Cornell and his wife Delvene Delaney.
The go-ahead for what promises to be a “landmark” $18 million home with swimming pool, on the site of what was originally a holiday home for Marist Brothers schoolboys, has been granted by the NSW Land and Environment Court.
With the fabulous ocean views as a backdrop, the ruling follows on-site conciliation talks with objecting neighbours and Byron Bay Shire Council after the mansion was reduced from three to two levels.
A few months after securing the Byron Bay suites, Didier snapped up the seven-bedroom “Wategos Surf Shack” at I Brownell Dr for $3.6 million through his company Trump Investments.
SUMMER BAY TACKLES THE BIG ISSUES
There are some new kids on the block in Summer Bay and they’re going to be tackling some serious issues.
Actors Laura McDonald and JR Reyne join the cast of Home And Away next week, playing model Allegra and photographer Emmett.
“We definitely delve into disordered eating for sure,” McDonald told Confidential.
“I am a 25-year-old size 10 woman, so when this audition brief came to me I kind of assumed I was past it age-wise and also just not in the right size bracket to even be considered for the role. They have done an amazing job.
“I don't think they are pitching anything to really aspire to, it is going to be really real and raw and different to what we have seen before.”
Broader body image issues and the pressure of social media will also be
looked at.
Reyne, meanwhile, would be familiar to some TV viewers for his work on Neighbours and The Secret Daughter.
He is also the son of Aussie rock singer James Reyne.
“It is such a wild time that we live in where everything is about looking fantastic,” Reyne explained. “You know, human life is not always fantastic and I think that a show like Home And Away really shining a light on the issues of all of that, it is really important and they should be really proud that they’re bring these issues to the fore.”
DEVELOPER DECLARES INFLUENCER-FREE ZONE
Luxury south coast property Ser Infinito Estate has declared itself an influencer-free zone.
The high-end accommodation, which opened this month, starts at $7500 a night, and boasts seven bedrooms, butler, private chef, yoga instructor and massage therapist.
The home, set in the forest outside the coastal township of Milton, is known in the area as The Castle.
“I like to think of our estate as an influencer-free zone,” managing director Karim Gharbi told Confidential when contacted.
“Ser Infinito is aimed at high net worth individuals, a discreet clientele for whom privacy is very important.”
Ser Infinito has its own helipad, rooftop swimming pool and Japanese-style spa.
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